AFP/File / by Mohammed Abbas | British Prime Minister David Cameron, photographed in Manchester on October 7, 2015, told his cabinet on November 3 that a digital intelligence package on the table is of paramount importance in the effort to keep Britain safe

LONDON (AFP) -

Britain's government published proposals for new Internet spying laws Wednesday to keep pace with the digital age and crack down on terror threats, but critics have branded the package a "snooper's charter".

The plans are expected to grant intelligence agencies new powers to request Internet communications data, including on messages sent through social media applications such as Facebook and WhatsApp.

"This would be one of the most important pieces of legislation during this parliament because it goes absolutely to the heart of the government's duty to keep the British public safe," Prime Minister David Cameron told cabinet colleagues on Tuesday.

The move comes as concerns mount that jihadist militants are increasingly recruiting and planning attacks online, and amid intelligence warnings that Britain is under greater threat of attack.

Among the new powers to be proposed for the Investigatory Powers Bill will be the ability to intercept Internet communication records.

These show which Internet services were accessed by a suspect and when, but not the content of messages or their recipient, nor the Internet browsing history.

In a statement, Britain's Home Office said the bill would "propose a modern legal framework" for which authorities could access what data, and specify the circumstances.

"Sometimes communications data is the only way to identify offenders, particularly where offences are committed online," a government source said.

"But it is important that people understand that communications data is only ever used in a necessary, proportionate and accountable way. That is why the draft bill contains strengthened safeguards."

British media have reported that the bill may go further, banning Internet firms from using encryption that can only be deciphered by a user, and requiring technology companies to keep email and social media records for 12 months.

Currently, warrants for such data requests are issued by the Home Secretary Theresa May.

But this authority could be handed to judges, who would also decide on warrants for serious and organised crime. Meanwhile, ministers would sign off on cases involving national security and foreign affairs.

- Civil liberties concerns -

Civil liberties groups worry that the bill's powers will lack sufficient oversight and be used unnecessarily, and could lead to the kind of blanket surveillance revealed by US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

"It's difficult to overstate how pivotal the coming weeks will be for the privacy of every single person in this country," civil rights group Liberty said on its website.

British officials say it was partly due to concerns raised by Snowden that they have updated surveillance legislation, and also because current laws date as far back as 1995, before the rise of the consumer Internet.

"Without such capabilities, we would be left like James Bond at the cocktail party when everyone else is online," The Times, which was granted rare access to the British communications spying agency GCHQ last week, quoted an MI6 agent as saying.

They say the proposals boost transparency by bringing together existing surveillance laws and simplifying regulatory oversight.

The draft bill will reduce three current supervisory bodies -- one on communications interception, one for intelligence agencies and one for law enforcement -- to one body led by a senior judge.

The draft bill will be scrutinised by a committee of lawmakers, allowing changes to be made before it is formally debated by parliament.

Nestled in a deep pocket of forest that lies off Thailand’s electrical grid, villagers in Pa Deng have become early adopters and evangelists for an unusual alternative energy source: poop.

After successfully lighting up their homes with solar panels and stoves fueled by cow dung, the villagers are now clean energy crusaders in a gas-guzzling country that overwhelmingly relies on fossil fuels.

It was a friend from Myanmar who first told 44-year-old Wisut Janprapai that faeces could be used to power a cooking stove.

“At first we didn’t believe it,” he told AFP from outside his wooden home, which is surrounded by fruit trees and under the shadow of a mountain range that lines Thailand’s western border with Myanmar.

But with no access to state power lines and plenty of cow manure to go around, Wisut and his neighbours reasoned it was worth a try.

Now nearly 100 families in the rural network have small stoves running on blue bio-gas balloons they crafted after years of experimenting.

The balloons are hulking polyester sacks that fill up with methane gas after microbes break down the animal manure and other organic waste packed inside.

The fuel source is healthier and more sustainable than burning wood, and also saves villagers from having to venture into the forest for kindling.

“It’s nothing complicated, just put the food and waste in,” explained Kosol Saengthong, the leader of the network. “And then the gas will come”.

– Land of energy –

While Pa Deng is powered solely by green energy sources, the rest of Thailand runs chiefly on oil, coal and natural gas — much of it imported.

Successive governments, including the current junta, have warned that the country faces an energy crisis on current consumption trends unless new power sources are embraced.

The kingdom is the second largest consumer of energy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia, according to US government data from 2013, and the 22nd biggest user in the world.

Consumption is also heavily skewed. Most of the power is funnelled to sprawling Bangkok, where some of the capital’s luxury malls suck up more energy than entire provinces.

But compared to its impoverished neighbours, Thailand is a leading investor in renewables and plans to increase its reliance on clean-burning fuels from 12 percent to 25 percent in the next five years.

Groups like World Wildlife Fund say it could be setting its sights much higher, with a recent report laying out a future that would have the country operating on 100 percent renewables by 2050.

Phirat Inphanich, a policy analyst at Thailand’s Energy Ministry, agrees the kingdom could be making better use of its resources.

“Thailand is the land of renewable energy,” he told AFP. “You can walk anywhere, especially in rural areas, and you will see things that can be turned into energy”.

But changing mindsets is difficult, said the 38-year-old, who travels around the country urging communities to generate more of their own power in the footsteps of Pa Deng.

These small-scale efforts will not overhaul the sector but they can make a dent, plus help villagers cut down on energy costs.

“If any Thais are still hesitating to make their own energy, just look at (Pa Deng) as an example,” he said.

– Empowering others –

Villagers in Pa Deng saw their first flash of electricity when former premier Thaksin Shinawatra donated solar panels nearly a decade ago.

But the panels started breaking after a few years, and no one came to mend them.

“So we decided to send our own villagers to learn how to fix the panels ourselves”, said Kosol, the group’s leader.

The villagers reached out to academics and travelled to factories and research centres, where they offered fruit from their gardens in exchange for lessons on how to harness other forms of renewable sources — like the biogas tanks.

Now unlikely experts in solar panels and other green technologies, they are teaching other rural communities how to generate power while minimising their ecological footprint.

“I was surpised at how kind and eager people were to share knowledge with me. Now that it’s my turn to teach, I will do the same,” Kosol said during a recent seminar held in the village.

But not everyone in the area is sold.

So far only a fifth of families in the Pa Deng area have bought into the network, which requires members to contribute money for a maintenance fund and a welfare pool used to cover medical emergencies.

“Those who aren’t interested in our ideas still want electric poles from the government,” said Kosol, who believes that would waste unnecessary money and energy.

Wisut, who has several solar panels hooked up to a fan and a television plus a bio-gas balloon powering the stove, says he is perfectly content.

“I don’t think we need air conditioning or a refrigerator,” he told AFP, adding that he sees little to envy about life in noisy, bright Bangkok.

22,000 police officers were deployed in Jakarta, Indonesia to control a massive swell of protesters. 150,000 Muslims went to the streets to demand the arrest of the city’s Christian mayor

Modern Islam is seeped in violence. Radicals are surging to power within the faith. 150,000 enraged Muslims poured into the streets of Jakarta in a defiant protest of Christianity. The US embassy shuttered its consulate services in response, urging Americans to stay inside and stay safe.

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim majority country. President Obama’s administration has fawned over the country for years, loudly declaring it to be a beacon of Muslim civil rights. Obama himself spent several years in the country as a child.

“Much of the world could learn a great deal from your tradition of religious tolerance and pluralism, which is so clearly embedded in the DNA of Indonesian people,” Secretary of State John Kerry said during a visit to Indonesia almost three years ago.

The positive rhetoric completely disregards the restrictive, conservative interpretation of Islam that’s foisted onto the Indonesian populace. It is not a free, Western-style democracy. Radical Islam tinges every law.

150,000 enraged Muslims took to the streets in Jakarta to protest the city’s Christian mayor. Rule by the infidel is prohibited in conservative Islamic culture

Protests have been roiling Indonesia for weeks. Muslim activists are attacking Christians and others for insulting Islam. The government has been working to appease the protesters. Last week the Attorney General’s office announced that Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama will be forced to stand trial. His crime? Blasphemy.

Anyone who claims that the Qur’an doesn’t incite believers to violence hasn’t truly read it. Islam was birthed by a desert warrior culture. Devout Muslims are instructed to protect the tribe by eradicating the infidel.

Sura 5:51 reads “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies.” The incendiary words were discussed by the Christian governor during a recent speech. He urged his supporters to free themselves from any guilt they might have for voting for the “infidel.” He said that those who taught the sura were misinformed as to it’s real meaning.

And that was his crime. Nearly 200,000 Muslims flooded the streets of Jakarta, outraged at the governors words. Blasphemy! they shrieked. Islam is so unsure of itself that believers squash even mild opposition.

Liars manipulated Basuki’s speech. They claimed that he attacked the sura itself, and not its teachers. Police admitted to deliberately hacking at a video of the governor to make it appear that he was criticizing Islam.

The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) charged forward as the most indefatigable of Basuki’s accusers. The radical fringe group is known for their destructive power. They’ve forced churches to close and denigrated Christian signs of faith. They conduct raids on gambling outlets. They harass liquer shops.

FPI is also infamous for their threats against America. During the Iraq war the group recruited scores of soldiers to fight against American troops.

FPI has a lot of political influence for a group comprised of crazed Islamists. They’ve thrown their full weight behind the struggle to divest Basuki, and all other Christians, of their power.

The leaders of Indonesia’s main body of Islamic scholars, the Indonesian Ulema Council, also decided that Basuki’s mild comments represented a grave and serious threat to Islam. The “learned” men issued a statement that the governor had “insulted the Qur’an, ulemas, and Muslims.”

This is what the Qur’an teaches its adherents. Pious Muslims do not have the same urge for tolerance and peaceful co-existence that starry-eyed liberals in the West have. Muslims are explicitly commanded to spread the message of Islam so all heads are bowed to Allah.

The governor faces multiple charges. In addition to blasphemy, he’s being tried for spreading hatred or contempt at at a population group. Conviction carries a whopping five years in prison. A popular, successful politician might be imprisoned for speaking reasonably about Islam.

22,000 police officers were deployed to control the enormous crowds of protesters. 150,000 people gathering in one spot to express their anger is inherently dangerous. Last week someone was killed in the clash.

The US embassy described the upheaval as a “large-scale mass prayer gathering” best avoided by Americans.

“Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence,” the embassy stated in an advisory, continuing “extremist groups could also take advantage of the event to incite or carry out violence.”

Once again Obama’s administration refuses to denounce radical Islam. An innocent Christian man’s life is being ripped to shreds by Islamist claws.

Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said “Indonesia prides itself on its image as a tolerant country. This case would set a deeply worrying precedent, making it hard for the authorities to argue that they respect all faiths.”

Extreme, conservative Islam does not allow much room for other faiths. It can’t, the Qur’an is a political document as much as a religious text. There is no separation of church and state in Islam. The very concept is nonsensical for devout followers.

Is this what we want in our own country? Obama’s pro-Islam views have allowed thousands of unvetted, possible extremists to seek asylum in America. President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to change this. Let’s hope he’s not too late.

Singapore (AFP) - An Asian security summit ended in discord Sunday after China denounced US "provocations" in the South China Sea and declared it does not fear trouble in the contested waters.

"The South China Sea issue has become overheated because of the provocations of certain countries for their own selfish interests," Admiral Sun Jianguo told an annual forum in Singapore.

Sun, who stressed China's desire for a peaceful solution, spoke one day after US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said any Chinese construction on an islet near the Philippines would prompt unspecified "actions" by the United States and other nations.

On a visit to Mongolia Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry also warned Beijing against setting up an air defence identification zone over the disputed waters.

"We would consider an ADIZ, an ADIZ zone, over portions of the South China Sea as a provocative and destabilising act, which would automatically raise tensions and call into serious question China's commitment to diplomatically manage the territorial disputes of the South China Sea," Kerry said.

"We believe that it is critical that no country move unilaterally to militarise the region," he added.

His remarks came on the eve of a US-China dialogue in Beijing and after Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper cited Chinese army sources as saying Beijing was mulling such a zone.

China claims nearly all of the sea despite competing claims by several Southeast Asian neighbours, and has pressed its claims by rapidly building artificial islands suitable for military use.

Washington has responded by sending warships close to Chinese-claimed reefs, angering Beijing.

Rhetoric has escalated ahead of a decision at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on a case brought by the Philippines, a longtime US ally and former colony, against China, which says it will not recognise any ruling.

The Chinese admiral said US naval and air patrols in the sea were a display of "military muscles" and China was being forced to "accept and honour" the tribunal's ruling.

"China firmly opposes such behaviour. We do not make trouble but we have no fear of trouble," Sun, the leader of the Chinese delegation in Singapore, said in prepared remarks.

Carter had left Singapore by the time Sun made his speech.

Sun also took exception to Carter's statement on Saturday that Beijing risks building a "Great Wall of self-isolation" with its military expansion.

- China 'not isolated' -

"We were not isolated in the past. We're not isolated, and we will not be isolated in the future. Actually I am worried some people and countries are still looking at China with a Cold War mentality and prejudice," the Chinese admiral said in response to questions from other delegates.

Apparently referring to the United States and the Philippines, Sun said "some hegemonic countries have empowered small countries to make provocations against big countries".

The SCMP has reported that China plans to establish an outpost on Scarborough Shoal 230 kilometres (140 miles) off the Philippines which considers it part of its exclusive economic zone.

According to a Pentagon report, China has added more than 3,200 acres (1,295 hectares) of land to the seven islets it occupies in the Spratlys, a separate island chain from Scarborough.

Carter declined to elaborate when pressed on Saturday over what "actions" Washington might take. But the Pentagon chief proposed stronger bilateral security cooperation with China to reduce the risk of a mishap.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the forum that the European Union had a stake in maintaining freedom of shipping and navigation in the South China Sea, and said he would speak to his counterparts on the issue.

Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also have competing claims in the sea.

Beijing's territorial claims, based on controversial historical records, have pitted it against the United States, which has conducted patrols near Chinese-held islands to press for "freedom of navigation" in the waterway.

Pentagon officials say two Chinese fighters last month conducted an "unsafe" intercept of a US spy plane in international airspace over the South China Sea.

PARIS, MAY 5, 2017: (DGW) THE hermit kingdom of North Korean state media has warned that Beijing was crossing the red lines in its relationship with Pyongyang. This is in a rare criticism of its closest ally, the Peoples' Republic of China.

A commentary in the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun vowed North Korea would not give up its nuclear program.

It accused China of “dancing to the tune of the U.S.” and providing Washington excuses to deploy more military assets to the Korean Peninsula.

The commentary urged two Chinese state-run newspapers, the People’s Daily and Global Times, to refrain from making reckless remarks which risked undermining relations between the two countries.

It comes after increased criticism of North Korea in Chinese state media amid heightened tensions in the region.

Rodong Sinmun specifically criticized the Chinese media’s call for more sanctions against North Korea as a way to avert war.

“We didn’t cross the ‘red line’ of the (North Korea)-China relationship,” the commentary said. “China is violently stomping on and crossing it without hesitation.”

It said the two Chinese publications asserted the North Korean nuclear weapons program was a threat to China.

“They even talked rubbish that (North Korea) strains the situation in northeast Asia and ‘offers the U.S. excuses for deploying more strategic assets’ in the region,” said the commentary attributed to an author named Kim Chol.

The commentary said North Korea’s nuclear program exists to protect the country from invasion and Pyongyang would not scrap it to ease tensions.

“(North Korea) will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is a precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is,” it said.

Analysts say North Korea appears concerned about the new threat posed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“North Korea sees Trump as more willing to use force,” said Robert Ross, a Boston College professor and China policy expert. “Chinese policies seem to be encouraging American policy and this has aroused concern in North Korea.”

Scott Snyder, senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said North Korea statements were “indirect evidence” of the pressure Beijing is putting on the Kim Jong-Un regime.

But Snyder cautions that may not bring the result Washington wants — an end to North Korea’s nuclear program.

Asked about the commentary Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing had been firm in its call for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula “to maintain the peace and stability of the region.”

Global Times, a state-sanctioned tabloid, slammed the Rodong Sinmun in a rebuttal Thursday.

“The editorial is nothing more than a hyper-aggressive piece completely filled with nationalistic passion,” it said. “Pyongyang is obviously grappling with some form of irrational logic over its nuclear program.”

But it did offer slight praise for Pyongyang for not yet conducting a sixth nuclear test and for being “comparatively restrained” in recent missile tests.

The last of those was last week, when a North Korea test missile exploded over North Korean territory, before it reached the ocean.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has continued military drills that have infuriated North Korea.

The latest of those was Monday, when two U.S. B-1 bombers from Guam conducted a joint drill with South Korea and Japan’s air forces over the Korean Peninsula, according to the U.S. Air Force.

After that exercise, Pyongyang said the US actions were bringing the region “to a point close to nuclear war.”

A 35-year-old hairdresser was allegedly stabbed to death by her husband inside their apartment because he was upset she had converted to Christianity.

Amir Darbanou was charged with the murder of his wife Nasrin Abek after her body was found inside their apartment in the affluent suburb of Potts Point on Thursday.

The 42-year-old, from Iran, was allegedly enraged that Ms Abek had recently converted to Christianity and killed the hairdresser in a frenzied knife attack on Wednesday night, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Police made the gruesome discovery when they forced entry into the couple’s home at about 6.20am on Thursday after Ms Abek’s father raised concerns for her welfare.

Mr Darbanou had allegedly called his father-in-law in Iran to tell him Ms Abek was dead on Wednesday night and was arrested after her body was found the next day.

''Hairdresser, 35, ‘stabbed to death by her Iranian husband in a Sydney apartment because he was angry she converted to CHRISTIANITY,'” by Belinda Grant Geary, Daily Mail Australia, September 29, 2016.

Ms Abek’s father said his heartache over her death had been made worse by the fact he had to contact police ‘several times’ before they would act.

He said he became concerned when he had not heard from her for a ‘prolonged period’, Nine News reported.

The 42-year-old, who reportedly ‘stalked’ his wife, did not enter a plea or apply for bail when he appeared in Sydney’s Central Local Court on Friday.

Police said there was no known history of domestic violence between the couple, who had been living in Australia for four years on bridging visas, but neighbours had reported hearing screaming coming from the apartment on Wednesday night.

Two civil rights organisations – the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law and the South East-based Coalition of Human Rights Organisations, have called on the South East Governors and a National Assembly legislators to intervene and stop militarisation and extortion in Igboland.

They said it was part of orchestrated plans by the military to collapse the 51-year-old Onitsha Niger Bridge, a major gateway to Igboland, under the guise of Operation Python Dance.

The statement by the groups reads: We make bold to say that the ulterior motives behind the referenced despicable and condemnable operations are for the purpose of Jihadism and Ethnic Cleansing.

Others are to cause social and economic strangulation of the Southeast Zone and collapse of Onitsha Niger Bridge built since 1965; for the purpose of cutting off the Igbo Land from the rest of the country; using the Southeast Roads as illegitimate money making venture by way of collection of illegal roadblock tolls and extortion; depriving the Christian dominated Peoples of the Southeast and the South-south Zones particularly those living outside the Zones of their sacred and constitutionally guaranteed rights to worship their Christian Religion and commemorate the birth of their Savior Jesus Christ by blocking and torturing them from returning to their ancestral homes by way of total blockage of the ailing Niger Bridge and deliberate creation of indiscriminate roadblocks; pushing the law abiding Igbo Race to the wall and forcing them to adopt radical reprisal approaches to pave way for full blown genocidal Jihadism against the Race.

It is recalled that on Monday, 28th of November 2016, the Nigerian Army, dominated by Jihadist elements; dubiously announced the mass deployment of troops and equipment to all strategic roads and commercial centers including motor parks in Igbo Land, in the guise of “Operation or Exercise Python Dance”; saying it is targeting “MASSOB, IPOB, Fulani Herdsmen, Kidnappers and Armed Robbers”. Before the dubious announcement, the Southeast or Igbo Land waslaid under siege with not less than one hundred military and navy roadblocks and not more than 1000 police roadblocks scattered on all strategic roads and routes in the Zone. The link below contains the first army statement under reference:

In response, the Southeast Based Coalition of Human Rights Organizations and the Intersociety, issued a joint statement, dated 30th of November 2016, condemning in its entirety and totality the action of the Jihadist Nigerian Army. The said statement of ours triggered off public outcries and more informed reactions; forcing the army through its 82nd Division in Enugu to issue another contradictory, defenseless and watery statement; claiming professionalism and routine in-service exercise.

The link below contains the second army statement, issued on Friday, 2nd December 2016: http://www. newsexpressngr.com/news/31490- Army-clears-air-over- operation-Python-Dance-in- South-East-16. In all these, the more the Jihadist army tries to justify its claims behind the atrocious operations, the more its ulterior motives are exposed.

We have, contrary to the claims of the Jihadist Army, investigated, found and come out with the following 37-Points Of Facts; shaming, rubbishing and exposing the false claims and ulterior motives of the Jihadist Nigerian Army and the Police: (1) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army raised false insecurity alarms in the Southeast with ulterior or dubious intents; (2) that street protests are not armed rebellion or traditional street crimes of kidnapping, armed robbery or murder, etc; (3) that IPOB and MASSOB are not armed opposition groups waging war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any part thereof; (4) that Southeast Zone is the most peaceful Zone to live in Nigeria; as clearly attested to by a recent UN Report and it is not a war zone or a zone at war with the Federal Government or Federal Republic of Nigeria; (5) that there are no security threats of unprecedented proportion or Northeast magnitude in the Southeast Zone warranting the present military siege or police state in the Zone.

(6) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army is crude and an illiterate army with no knowledge of the meaning and definition of Rules of Engagement; (7) that the Jihadist Nigerian Army has continued to criminalize and stigmatize the nonviolent activities of IPOB to the point of saddening and alarming proportions; (8) that while the Southeast, which is a Zone in peace and non war Zone is being hunted, persecuted and pushed to the wall; the troubled Zones like Northeast and violent groups like the Fulani Janjaweed are being cuddled, petted and protected (i.e. see military roadblocks along Umuahia-Aba Federal Road and blanket protections provided to Fulani cattle rearers and their herds of cattle where cattle are valued more than lives of road users on Southeast Roads).

(9) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army and its Commander-in-Chief are killing, wounding, torturing and persecuting citizens of the Southeast Zone that have chosen nonviolence and law abiding living; whereas violent entities and Zones including Boko Haram and Fulani Janjaweed are being rewarded and given presidential treat and protection; (10) that there are no credible official crime statistics from the Nigeria Police Force in the Southeast Zone, detailing the patterns and trends of violent crimes such as kidnapping and armed robbery in the Zone; showing increase or decrease; warranting the involvement of the Jihadist Nigerian Army in the flooding of the Zone with troops and weapons.

(11) That soldiers are not professionally trained to catch kidnappers and armed robbers or arsonists or burglars or rapists; or engage in fighting street crimes and they do not have mental and ICT expertise to do same; (12) that hiding under the guise of “fighting kidnappers and armed robbers” as a cover to actualize their Jihadist intents have been exposed and shamed; (13) that the Jihadist Nigerian Army resorted to such useless and mockery excuses as a cover to execute their Jihadist and ethnic cleansing operations; (14) that the use of Fulani Herdsmen by the Jihadist Nigerian Army as one of the excuses for invasion of the Southeast is deliberate and a further cover to be hidden under to perpetrate its planned unprovoked war or mass killing and torture mission.

(15) That the Fulani Janjaweed or Herdsmen have massacred over 140 defenceless Christians in Southern Kaduna alone, in the past six months; yet the Army turns blind eyes; likewise similar massacring of hundreds of othersin Agatu (Benue State), Nimbo (Enugu State), Akokwa (Imo State), Asaba and its environs (Delta State) and reported ongoing massacre in Abia communities of Abia State, etc; with the Jihadist Nigerian Army looking the other way; but wasting unnecessary energy and weaponry chasing, massacring, wounding, torturing and persecuting defenceless Igbo-Christians in furtherance of its Jihadist and ethnic cleansing.

(16) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army operation by way of total blockage of the 51years Old Onitsha Bridge; a major gateway to Igbo Land, is solely meant to collapse and sink the Bridge so as to cut the Southeast Zone off from the rest of the country; when it ought to know that the Bridge critically needs round-the-clock decongestion and lesser traffic gridlock especially in this critical festive period; (17) that the operations of the Jihadist Nigerian Army are deliberately commenced this crucial festive period in Igbo Land so as to punish, torture and persecute the Igbo Race for being predominant Christians and deprive them of their sacred rights to commemorate the birth of their Saviour Jesus Christ; (18) that the Army operations are also meant to strangulate the Igbo Race or Southeast Zone socially, culturally and economically.

(19) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army operations commenced in this crucial festive period in Igbo Land are geared towards creation of a sort of “Concentration Camp” by way of total blockage of the Onitsha Niger Bridge; particularly along Asaba-Niger Bridge and Niger Bridge-Onitsha Upper Iweka axis by trapping and jam-packing thousands of Xmas returnees with their families and livestock and other perishable items, so as to get them suffocated, fainted or died in their large numbers; (20) that the Jihadist Nigerian Army operations are also in crude and shameless response to the recent Amnesty International Report on massacre of at least 150 Pro Biafra Campaigners by the Jihadist Army; a confirmation of Intersociety’s earlier findings of the massacre by army and others of at least 250 nonviolent and unarmed Pro Biafra campaigners between July/August 2015 and May 2016.

(21) That the Jihadist Nigerian Army’s response is in the form of show of shame, force and impunity; (22) that the Jihadist Nigerian Amy operations are designed to inflict the Igbo Race with psychological torture and permanently treat them as a conquered people and further massacre them on the road with impunity in addition to over 250 unarmed and defenceless Igbo citizens and over 300 others it massacred or terminally wounded since July/August 2015; (23) that the Army operations are purely an army of occupation designed to occupy the Southeast permanently with attendant atrocious and butchery outcomes.
(24) That Intersociety and SBCHROs’ reason for referring to the Nigerian Army as “Jihadist Nigerian Army” particularly in the Southeast Zone, follows total takeover and domination of its command and rank and file by officers and citizens of northern Muslim background or Hausa-Fulani hegemony who are filled with intolerance, crude and butchery mindsets; whereby the GOC of the 82nd Division in Enugu: Major Gen Ibrahim Attahiru; the Deputy Army Spokesman of the 82nd Division: Col Sagir Musa and his predecessor, Col HamzaGambo; the Commandant of the 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, Col Isa Abdullahi Maigari; the leader of the military massacre operation of 29th and 30thof May 2016 at Nkpor, Onitsha and Asaba; Major M.I. Ibrahim of the Military Police; and the Commander of the 144 Battalion of the Nigerian Army at Ukwain Abia State; Lt Col Kasim Sidi Umar; who spearheaded the 9th of February 2016 massacre of over 30 IPOB members in Aba, are all from Hausa-Fulani Muslim background; likewise domination of other strategic command positions and over 70% of the rank and file or combatants by citizens of northern Muslim background.

(25) That another ulterior motive behind the Jihadist Nigerian Army operations in Igbo Land or Southeast Zone is for the purpose of criminal enrichment or illegitimate pocketing of hundreds of millions of naira from the Southeast Roads by way of organized road crime or roadblock extortion through open and closed sources; (26) that recent update of the Intersociety on road crimes committed by police and military personnel (i.e. army and navy) clearly showed that there are not less than 200 military roadblocks and 1000 police roadblocks on Southeast Roads as at 4th of December 2016; (27) that in those roadblocks, various forms of extortion are applied to rob the motorists and other road users at official gunpoint.

(28) That while soldiers and navy use structured form of extortion (i.e. hiring of civilians or garage touts to forcefully collect tolls on their behalf), the police use open method or direct extortion at gunpoint; (29) that the choice of Southeast Roads is because of its blue-collar nature or high commercial and cash transactions; (30) that as a result, the Jihadist Nigerian Army commanders and their foot soldiers in the Southeast Zone; with transmission of routine monthly brown envelopes (returns) to their superiors in Abuja; collectively and crookedly smile to bank on daily basis with tens of millions of naira derived from roadblock extortion; (31) that empirical evidence at our investigative disposal shows that the Nigeria Police in the Southeast Zone and its Roads had in the past 14 months or between October 2015 and December 2016, criminally collected and pocketed a total of N9.1Billion from roadblock extortion on Southeast Roads.

(32) That our updated checks as at today show that there are not less than 250 police roadblocks on Anambra’s Federal and State Roads as well as its city roads and that each police roadblock extorts minimum of N50 note and average of N100 note from each commercial motorist; translating to at least N30,000 for each police roadblock per day; N7.5million daily from not less than 250 police roadblocks; N225million monthly and N2.7Billion per year; (33) that the same facts and circumstances are applicable to Abia State; another major blue-collar State after Anambra State; with its 250 police roadblocks criminally pocketing N2.7Billion per year; (34) that Imo State; a lesser blue-collar State, has at least 200 police roadblocks to its name; with each police roadblock pocketing not less than N15,000 daily; N3Million for its 200 police roadblocks per day, N90Million per month and N1.08Billion per annum.

(35) That Enugu and Ebonyi States with relatively white-collar or civil service sub culture, have at least 300 police roadblocks to their names on average of 150 each; and each of the police roadblock criminally pockets at least N15,000 per day and N4.5Million for the 300 police roadblocks per day; N135Million per month and N1.62Billion per year; on average of N810Million for each of the two States; (36) that in all, the police personnel at over 1000 police roadblocks mounted on Southeast Roads have between January 2016 and December 2016 criminally collected and pocketed from Southeast commercial road users a total of N8.1Billion; with Anambra Stat e accounting for N2.7Billion; Abia State N2. 7billion; Imo State N1.08Billion; Enugu State N810Million; and Ebonyi State N810Million; (37) that added to N1.03Billion criminally collected and pocketed between 21st October and 21st December 2015 by not less than 750 police roadblocks then on Southeast Roads; the total roadblock theft by the Nigeria Police Force in the past 14 months from Southeast Roads is N9.13Billion.
Demands:

In view of the foregoing, therefore, we boldly demand:
1. That the Southeast Public Office Holders particularly the elected Governors of Anambra, Imo, Abia, Enugu and Ebonyi States and Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu should proactively rise to the occasion and take firm charge as the Chief Security Officers and Highest Legislative Officer of the Southeast Zone.

2. That in view of the Chief of Army Staff’s Conference kicking off in Owerri, Imo State from today, Monday, 5th of December 2016, expected to last for days; the above mentioned public office holders should make maximum use of the opportunity to register their strong displeasure and disapproval against unwarranted militarization of the Southeast or Igbo Land by Buratai led Jihadist Nigerian Army.

3. That the COAS, Lt Gen Turkur Buratai should be boldly engaged and asked to explain the rationale behind out-right domination of the command structure of the Nigerian Army in the Southeast as well as its rank and file by officers and citizens of Hausa-Fulani Muslim background.

4. That the COAS must be made to reverse the dangerous trend and de-Hausanize the art of combatant or infantry soldiering in the Southeast Zone or Igbo Land.
5. That the COAS must be told in strong and unmistakable language that Southeast will no longer condone and tolerate the age-long maltreatment by Nigerian Army as “a conquered territory and people”.

6. That the Southeast Public Office Holders above mentioned should meet President Muhammadu Buhari with a fluent Hausa Language interpreter to demand his inexplicable hostility towards the Igbo Land and Igbo Race and prevail on him to demilitarize the Southeast Zone.

7. That the Southeast Public Office Holders must insist during the COAS visit to Imo that he must order for the de-blockage of the ailing Onitsha Niger Bridge before he leaves the Igbo Land so as to save the Bridge from imminent collapse and facilitate free movement of people and vehicular particularly during Xmas and New Year period.

8. That we understand that the said Jihadist Army commanders including the Commandant of Onitsha 302 Artillery, Col Isa Abdullahi Maigari and the 82nd Division Deputy Army Spokesman, Col Sagir Musa visited the ailing Niger Bridge yesterday, being Sunday, 4th December 2016) between 10.30am and 11.30am following our advocacy pressures and “offered to reduce the blockage for their safety”; this we totally reject and insist on total removal of all the military drums and freeing and decongesting of the all routes into and out of the ailing Bridge. This is a matter of must; not palliative or adhoc.

9. That the COAS must be prevailed upon to order his “Dogari” combatants at the ailing Niger Bridge to disappear from the centre of the roads linking the ailing Bridge and retire to tents built for them beside the Ojukwu Statue to watch over people and vehicular movements.

10. That the Southeast Public Office Holders under reference should firmly engage the COAS, the Chief of Naval Staff and the Inspector General of Police concerning the extortionist and other criminal activities of their personnel deployed to Southeast Roads; for the purpose of abolishing all forms of criminal tolls or roadblock extortions.

11. That all the military and police roadblocks on Southeast Roads should be reduced to 5%, if not total abolition because empirical evidence has clearly shown that the more increase in military and police roadblocks in the Zone, the more increase in State-actor and non-State actor crimes (i.e. steady increase in Fulani Janjaweed attacks despite indiscriminate security roadblocks).

12. That the Southeast Public Office Holders under reference should set up a joint commission of enquiry to look into the army led massacre of not less than 250 Pro Biafra Campaigners as well as killings by the Fulani Janjaweed or armed Herdsmen in various parts of the Southeast Zone or Igbo Land.

Yours in the Service to Humanity,
Emeka Umeagbalasi, Board Chairman
International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)

Talk about turning the tables. A woman by the name of Noela Rukundo from Melbourne, Australia, who was presumed dead, showed up to her own funeral- very much alive and ready to serve justice to the husband who tried to have her killed.

A few days earlier, Balenga Kalala had hired a team of hitmen to kill his wife of 10 years, offering them a few thousands dollars to carry out the murder because he thought she would leave him for another man. Little did he know that they didn't kill Rukundo. With the help of a pastor and Rukundo's moxie, she was able to return to Melbourne unharmed and reveal that she was alive all along. She showed up at the end of the funeral service, shocking her scheming husband, The Washington Post reports.

Rukundo’s story:

Sometimes life really is stranger than fiction and nobody proved that this week more than Noela Rukundo.

The Burundi-born woman living in Melbourne, Australia, showed up at her own funeral to face her husband who thought he has successfully paid a group of gunmen to kill her.

“Surprise! I’m still alive!” said Rukundo, the BBC reported as she stormed out of a waiting car near her home where the funeral was taking place. “I felt like somebody who had risen again,” she said.

“Is it my eyes? Is it a ghost?'” her husband, the Congo-born Balenga Kalala said upon seeing his wife. “I’m sorry for everything.” But sorry wasn’t enough.

In the year since the funeral surprise, Kalala pleaded guilty to trying to have his wife killed and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Wait, what ? The full story of intrigue, which Rukundo recounted to the BBC , began more than a year ago when she left Australia for her native Burundi to attend the funeral of her stepmother. Kalala and the couple’s eight children stayed behind.

While resting in her hotel room in the capital of Bujumbura, Rukundo received a curious phone call from her husband. When Rukundo suggested she might go to sleep early, Kalala protested, saying that it must be very hot in Burundi and that she should relax outside. “He told me to go outside for fresh air,” she said.

Rukundo took his advice only to be abducted by a group of armed men. “I opened the gate and I saw a man coming towards me. Then he pointed the gun on me,” she said, adding that the man warned her that, “If you start screaming, I will shoot you. They’re going to catch me, but you? You will already be dead.”

Rukundo was pushed into a car with other gunmen and taken to an undisclosed location. Inside a building, she was tied to a chair, as gang members circled, deciding what to do. In the end the mobsters decided to take pity.

“We’re not going to kill you. We don’t kill women and children,” he said. Before freeing her, he also gave Rukundo a parting message. “You people get a chance to go overseas for a better life. But the money you are earning, the money the government gives to you, you use it for killing each other!” The gang leader even gave Rukundo some incriminating evidence to use against Kalala back in Australia.

For his part as an “aggrieved husband,” Kalala told the local community in Melbourne that his wife had died in an “accident.” Now free, she headed back home and, with the help of a pastor, arranged for the dramatic confrontation.

Kalala reportedly planned the hit because he was jealous and thought his wife was planning to leave him, something she vigorously denied. “I knew he was a violent man,” she said. “But I didn’t believe he can kill me. I loved this man with all my heart!”

PARIS, JUNE 6, 2016: (DGW) Communist China has banned Muslim faithful in the country from observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan warning violators of severe consequences, DailyGlobeWatch has learnt.

Although formally marking the start of Ramadan, but civil servants, children in predominant Muslim region in the country, students were banned from taking part by China's ruling Communist party.

However, this is not the first time China would be issuing this ban. It has before now banned government employees, and minors from fasting in the predominant Muslim Xinjiang region. Following this current ban, restaurants and other eateries in the region have been ordered to remain open.

Below is a notice posted Thursday on Government website: “Party members, cadres, civil servants, students, and minors must not fast for Ramadan and must not take part in religious activities.”

“During the Ramadan month, food and drink businesses must not close.” it added.

President Barack Obama is threatening to cancel a meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte after the fiery political figure called the U.S. president a “son of a bitch.”

According to the Associated Press, Duterte demanded that Obama be respectful during the G-20 summit. Otherwise, he said, “son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum.”

Duterte was referring to a potential discussion about his violent war on the drug cartels, killing over 2,400 people in the process.

During a press conference in China at the G-20 summit, Obama hinted that the meeting between himself and Duterte could be canceled.

“What I’ve instructed my team to do is to talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out is this in fact a time when we can have constructive, productive conversations,” he said.

Obama said that the United States would “always assert” the need for due process in prosecution of drug criminals, citing basic international norms. He added that he would bring it up in a meeting, despite Duterte’s comments.

He described Duterte as a “colorful” leader, but reasserted the United States close relationship with the Philippines.

“I have seen some of those colorful statements in the past so clearly he’s a colorful guy,” Obama replied to reporters, after he was asked about the comments during a press conference in China at the G-20 summit.